A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
Portrait of a white woman standing against a white background

Alaina Griffin

Continuing Studies Instructor

Bio

Alaina Griffin (she/her) is an instructor, historian, and critic of architecture and the built environment, with a special focus on place making in rural North America. She teaches at UIC, IIT, and SAIC, and practiced residential design before pivoting to academia.
 

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

The places where you live, go to school and shop significantly affect your daily life. In this camp, students will explore their environments and analyze how fundamental human needs, desires, and behaviors shape architectural design. The focus will be on the methods architects use to develop their ideas while also looking at the structures, materials, and technologies in historical and modern architecture. Through perspective drawing, drafting, model making, and digital software programs, students will explore the world-renowned architecture of Chicago. In addition to visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, they will engage in on-site sketching at historic buildings designed by architects such as Louis Sullivan and Mies van der Rohe. Students will study contemporary masterpieces such as Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion and Renzo Piano's Modern Wing to enrich their studio work.

Class Number

1005

Credits

2

Description

The places where you live, go to school and shop significantly affect your daily life. In this camp, students will explore their environments and analyze how fundamental human needs, desires, and behaviors shape architectural design. The focus will be on the methods architects use to develop their ideas while also looking at the structures, materials, and technologies in historical and modern architecture. Through perspective drawing, drafting, model making, and digital software programs, students will explore the world-renowned architecture of Chicago. In addition to visiting the Art Institute of Chicago, they will engage in on-site sketching at historic buildings designed by architects such as Louis Sullivan and Mies van der Rohe. Students will study contemporary masterpieces such as Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion and Renzo Piano's Modern Wing to enrich their studio work.

Class Number

1006

Credits

2